Albany Law School is a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
law school in
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...
. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...
and has an affiliation agreement with
University at Albany
The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...
that includes shared programs. The school is located near New York's highest court, federal courts, the executive branch, and the state legislature.
History
Albany Law School is the oldest independent law school in the United States. It was founded in 1851 by Amos Dean (its dean until 1868),
Amasa J. Parker,
Ira Harris, and others.
Beginning in 1878, the
Albany College of Pharmacy
Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (formerly Albany College of Pharmacy) is a private, independent college with campuses in Albany, New York and Colchester, Vermont. ACPHS was named the #1 Value-Added college or university in the cou ...
, Albany Law School,
Albany Medical College
Albany Medical College (AMC) is a private medical school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1839 by Alden March and James H. Armsby and is one of the oldest medical schools in the nation. The college is part of the Albany Medical Center, whi ...
,
Dudley Observatory
Dudley Observatory is an astronomical observatory originally located in Albany, New York, and now in Loudonville, New York. It is no longer operating as a scientific observatory, but remains the oldest non-academic institution of astronomical r ...
,
Graduate College of Union University, and
Union College
Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...
created the loose association today known as
Union University
Union University is a private Baptist Christian university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It is ...
. Each member institution has its own governing board, is fiscally independent, and is responsible for its own programs.
Albany Law School has a historically close relationship with the
New York Court of Appeals.
[Jonathan Lippman, ''The New York Court of Appeals, Albany Law School, and The Albany Law Review: Institutions Dedicated to the Evolution of the Law in New York State'', 75 Alb. L. Rev. 9, 10 (2011/2012)] One of the original members of the court,
Greene C. Bronson
Greene Carrier Bronson (November 17, 1789 in Simsbury, Hartford County, Connecticut – September 3, 1863 in Saratoga, New York) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.
Life
He was the son of Oliver Bronson (1746–1815, a music tea ...
, helped to found the law school. Since that time, Albany Law School alumni have been members of the court nine times with two serving as
Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals refers to the position of chief judge on the New York Court of Appeals. They are also known as the Chief Judge of New York.
The chief judge supervises the seven-judge Court of Appeals. In addition, th ...
.
In addition, the school hosts the Fund for Modern Courts' Hugh R. Jones Memorial Lecture, which is typically given by a current or former member of the court.
The law school inducted its first permanent female President & Dean,
Penelope Andrews, on July 1, 2012. On July 1, 2015, Alicia Ouellette became President & Dean.
Location
Albany Law is the only law school located within 90 miles of New York's
Capital District
A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any poli ...
. It is within two miles of the
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...
,
New York Court of Appeals, the Appellate Division 3rd Department, the
Federal District Court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
for the Northern District of New York, the
New York State Bar Association
The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justic ...
, several state agencies, and a number of private law firms.
Entrance statistics
For the 2019 class, 52.53% of applicants were accepted with 27.65% of those accepted enrolling, the
50th Percentile LSAT score of enrollees being 153 and the 50th Percentile GPA being 3.37.
Programs and centers
Albany Law School offers 14 concentrations for J.D. candidates, as well as an L.L.M program, and joint J.D./M.B.A, J.D./M.P.A., J.D./M.R.P., J.D./M.S., and J.D./M.S.W. programs.
Albany Law School is home to several centers of legal study: The
Government Law Center
The Government Law Center at Albany Law School is a nonpartisan law and public policy center based in Albany, New York. It produces independent legal research and analysis to help state and local governments better serve their communities.
The ...
, The Center for Excellence in Law Teaching, The Institute of Legal Studies, The Institute for Financial Market Regulation, and The Center for Judicial Process.
In addition, under the auspices of its Law Clinic and Justice Center, Albany Law School operates several public interest clinics. Some of the clinics available include the Health Law Clinic, Community Development Clinic, Domestic Violence Prosecution, and Family Violence Litigation.
Albany Law School's Schaffer Law Library holds a collection of more than 730,000 volumes and equivalents, including videotapes of oral arguments before the
New York State Court of Appeals
The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by ...
dating back to 1989.
Academics
Albany Law School offers courses and concentrations for the following degree programs: J.D., LL.M., and M.S. It offers joint degrees with the
College of Saint Rose
The College of Saint Rose is a private Roman Catholic college in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1920 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet as a women's college. It became fully co-educational in 1969; the following year, the college a ...
,
Union Graduate College
Union Graduate College (UGC) merged into Clarkson University on February 1, 2016, becoming the "Clarkson University Capital Region Campus," which serves as a recruiting hub for graduate and professional degree program admissions at all of the i ...
,
The Sage Colleges
The Sage Colleges were a private educational institution comprising three institutions in New York State:
Russell Sage College, a women's college in Troy; Sage College of Albany, a co-educational college in Albany; and the Sage Graduate Sch ...
,
University at Albany
The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...
,
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Alden March Bioethics Institute at
Albany Medical College
Albany Medical College (AMC) is a private medical school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1839 by Alden March and James H. Armsby and is one of the oldest medical schools in the nation. The college is part of the Albany Medical Center, whi ...
, and
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City. It is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sinai Health System, which manages eig ...
. Albany Law School also has an affiliation agreement with University at Albany that includes shared programs and access for students and faculty to learn from one another.
Law journals
![Albany Law Review](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Albany_Law_Review.jpeg)
In 1875, Albany Law published the nation's first student-edited legal periodical, the ''Albany Law School Journal'', which existed for only one academic year before being discontinued. Currently, the school publishes three journals, which are listed in order of their founding:
* ''
Albany Law Review
The ''Albany Law Review'' is a quarterly law review edited by students at Albany Law School. The ''Albany Law Review'' is one of three student-edited law journals published by the school.Albany Law School"Journals & Publications"
History
The ' ...
''
* ''
Albany Law Journal of Science and Technology''
* ''
Albany Government Law Review
The ''Albany Government Law Review'' is a biannual student-edited law review at Albany Law School. It covers legal aspects of government and public policy. The journal hosts a symposium each year. In 2011 and 2012, the journal published a third iss ...
''
Notable faculty
''Full Time faculty:''
*
Alicia Ouellette, President and Dean
*
Ira Mark Bloom, Trusts, Estates, and Property lawyer
*
Vincent M. Bonventre, Judicial and Constitutional Law lawyer and commentator
*
Raymond H. Brescia, Public Interest Law lawyer and commentator
*
Patrick M. Connors, New York Civil Practice and
Legal Ethics lawyer
''Adjunct faculty:''
*
Mae D'Agostino, United States District Judge for the Northern District of New York
*
Lawrence E. Kahn, Senior United States District Judge for the Northern District of New York
*
Eleanor Stein, Administrative Law Judge, former member of
Weather Underground
The Weather Underground was a far-left militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, the group was organized as a faction of Students for a Democr ...
and
Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...
''Former faculty:''
*
Penelope Andrews, Dean of the faculty of law at the
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...
*
Learned Hand
Billings Learned Hand ( ; January 27, 1872 – August 18, 1961) was an American jurist, lawyer, and judicial philosopher. He served as a federal trial judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1909 to 1924 a ...
, United States Judge and legal philosopher
*
Patricia Salkin
Patricia E. Salkin is an American jurist. She is the Senior Vice President for Academic for the Touro University System, and the Provost of the Graduate and Professional Divisions of Touro University. She is the former (first woman) Dean of Touro ...
, Dean of
Touro Law Center
Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, commonly known as Touro Law Center, is an ABA accredited law school. It is located on Long Island, New York, in the hamlet of Central Islip. The Law Center is part of Touro University, a private ...
*
David D. Siegel, commentator on New York Civil Practice
Notable alumni
Albany Law School has numerous notable alumni. It is
one of only twelve law schools in the United States to have graduated two or more justices of the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
:
Robert H. Jackson and
David Josiah Brewer
David Josiah Brewer (June 20, 1837 – March 28, 1910) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1890 to 1910. An appointee of President Benjamin Harrison, he supported states' righ ...
. Nine judges of the
New York State Court of Appeals
The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by ...
,
United States President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
, former New York Governor
Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cu ...
, former Fox News anchor
Megyn Kelly, and over a dozen members of the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
also attended Albany Law School. The first woman admitted to the New York State Bar,
Kate Stoneman, and the first African American man to graduate from law school in New York State,
James Campbell Matthews
James Campbell Matthews (November 6, 1844—November 1, 1930) was an Albany, New York attorney and judge. He was notable as the first African American law school graduate in New York. He was elected a municipal judge in the late 1890s, which wa ...
, also both attended Albany Law School.
Other notable alumni include:
Richard D. Parsons '71, Former Chairman, Citigroup,
Lawrence H. Cooke '39, Former Chief Judge of New York State,
Victoria A. Graffeo '77, Former Associate Judge, New York State Court of Appeals,
Leslie Stein '81, Associate Judge, New York State Court of Appeals, and
Thomas J. Vilsack '75, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and Governor of Iowa.
Employment and rankings
Albany Law School was ranked 106th in ''
U.S. News & World Report''s 2018 ranking of law schools. The winter 2016 issue of ''preLaw magazine'' ranked Albany Law number 1 for government careers, citing its "A" grades in curriculum and employment, and number 6 for public defender and prosecutor jobs.
According to Albany Law School's 2016 ABA-required disclosures, 81% of the class of 2016
obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment ten months after graduation.
126 of 151 graduates obtained full-time, long-term work and 4 graduates obtained either part-time short-term, part-time long-term or full-time short-term positions.
Albany Law School's 2016 Law School Transparency under-employment score is 18%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2015 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation.
Employment Summary for 2016 Graduates
Costs
The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at Albany Law School for the 2014–2015 academic year is $59,728. The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $234,466. Tuition is $43,248. In 2015, the school awarded $7 million in financial aid, and over 60% of first-year students received merit scholarships.
See also
*
Law of New York
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Law schools in New York (state)
1851 establishments in New York (state)